Editorial: Lott's action an injustice to King legacy

Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday is officially celebrated today in honor of his nonviolent struggle to gain civil rights for all Americans. In the three decades since his assassination, this nation's racial attitudes have shifted markedly for the better.

The Ku Klux Klan is but a shell of its former self and open racial hostilities have gradually subsided. Yet there is still hatred in America. Taking the place of the Klan are other groups which, while not openly advocating violence, still express repugnant views. One such group is the Council of Conservative Citizens, which has no qualms about running columns in its newsletter that advocate white supremacy.

While it may be impossible to ever fully extinguish racial hatred, it admittedly is truly remarkable that two of Washington's most powerful members of Congress would actually speak before such an organization -- Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., and Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga., who is one of the House prosecutors in the Senate's impeachment trial of President Clinton.

Once their appearances before this organization were revealed in December, both Barr and Lott issued statements trying to distance themselves from the group, pleading ignorance of its views. But this seems awfully difficult to believe, especially for Lott. As the New York Times reported last week, even Lott's uncle in Mississippi, Arnie Watson, is surprised by his nephew's denial that he had no first-hand knowledge of the group's views. "Trent is an honorary member," Watson, a member of the Council of Conservative Citizens' executive board, said.

It is a sorry commentary that some of our nation's highest elected officials would associate themselves in any way with a white supremacist group. Also troubling is the lack of outrage expressed by Lott's colleagues in Congress and the lack of coverage this issue has received from much of the media.

Although significant strides have been made in racial equality, this nation still has a lot of work to do. If Lott can escape an accounting for his association with the Council of Conservative Citizens, then the United States has a long way to go before it comes close to realizing King's dream.

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